Itinerary: Long Beach

For a time, Long Beach was a little piece of Iowa in Southern California.

More than 100 years ago, Long Beach was a retirement destination for Midwesterners, many of whom brought their conservative values out West. The town banned liquor sales years before Prohibition, and once even outlawed dancing.

Long Beach’s days as a sleepy resort town were numbered. A building boom in the 1920s was sparked by the discovery of oil. A 6.3-magnitude earthquake in 1933 leveled hundreds of buildings; many of their Art Deco-style replacements, however, remain. Finally World War II brought the naval shipyard, and the port grew into one of the nation’s largest. Now a city of 458,000, it has a respected symphony and opera company, an art museum and galleries, and revitalized commercial district.

Thursday

Most of what is today Long Beach started out as two ranchos in the 18th century. The homes of both are open as museums. Rancho Los Alamitos (6400 Bixby Hill Road, Long Beach. Free. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. [562] 431-3541) was part of a land grant to a Spanish soldier who was part of the colonization of California. The original adobe was built in 1806 and is the oldest remaining domestic structure in the state. Rancho Los Cerritos (4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach. Free. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. [562] 424-9423) was part of the same original land grant. The two-story Monterey-style adobe is furnished with Victorian furniture.

Friday

Dip into a recent addition to Long Beach: the Aquarium of the Pacific (100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach. Open daily 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. $7.95 to $14.95. [562] 590-3100). The Pacific is the largest, most diverse body of water on the planet, and the aquarium contains more than 12,000 ocean animals from tropical fish to sea otters. On display through the end of 2001, “Jellies: Phantoms of the Deep.”

Saturday

Dance-theater company Momix brings its popular touring show “Baseball” to the Carpenter Performing Arts Center (Cal State Long Beach, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach. 2 and 8 p.m. $12 to $23. [562] 985-7000). Choreographer Moses Pendleton--also a founder of the well-known dance troupe Pilobolus--created the first piece of “Baseball” for the dedication of an arts center in Scottsdale, Ariz., the winter home of the San Francisco Giants. The rest was fleshed out in 1994--the year of the major league players’ strike. (The matinee show is shorter and tailored for family audiences.) Like most Momix work, it is laced with humor and spiked with fantasy.

Sunday

Since permanently docking there in 1967, the Queen Mary has been one of the defining landmarks of Long Beach. It was a British luxury ocean liner, and at 1,000 feet long, one of the biggest. It’s now a hotel with several restaurants and attractions.

The newest addition is “The World of Reggae Featuring Bob Marley,” an exhibit that spans 40 years of Jamaican music including ska through reggae, dub, two-tone, dancehall and others. It traces the evolution through album covers, posters, films and other memorabilia. “The World of Reggae,” which opens Saturday, is open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the English Village area adjacent to the Queen Mary’s parking lot. $10. (562) 435-3511. The Queen Mary is also offering $23 to $27 passes that include the reggae show, guided tours of the Queen Mary and the Scorpion submarine.